Regular hand cleaning is important to reduce the spread of infectious diseases. To facilitate hand washing, most bathrooms are equipped with a water faucet and sink, together with a soap dispenser. These are typically installed below a bathroom mirror.
Manually operated faucets and soap dispensers may become contaminated by a user's hands, and thus provide a route for the spread of infectious agents. To avoid this, many public bathrooms use touchlessly operated faucets and soap dispensers. These are generally equipped with proximity sensors, and are configured to dispense water or soap when a user places his or her hands near the appropriate sensor.
Touchlessly operated hand cleaning equipment may, however, be difficult to operate, especially for individuals who are unfamiliar with the equipment. For example, an individual who is accustomed to manually operated faucets and soap dispensers may search in vain for a manual control, thereby contaminating the equipment with his hands. The individual may then leave the bathroom without washing his hands, further increasing the risk of spreading infectious agents. This problem may be particularly acute for those visiting from a foreign country, who may be accustomed to hand cleaning equipment having a significantly different design and mode of operation.
The present inventors have appreciated that the hand cleaning experience could be improved by providing a hand cleaning device that provides easily understood visual cues to assist users in the touchless operation thereof.